WVU favored to win conference

[clevfan]

WVU favored to win conference

By Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sportswriter
Nov 20, 2007

MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia is a considerable favorite to win the Big East championship Saturday when the fourth-ranked Mountaineers play host to No. 20 Connecticut at 3:30 p.m. at Mountaineer Field.


The betting line opened Monday morning with WVU as a 17-point favorite, likely the largest differential in any of the other games that will determine the champion from a Bowl Championship Series conference.



"We haven't used anything like that all year long," Huskies Coach Randy Edsall said of added motivation for his players. "All we've tried to do is go out and prepare as best as we can and try to get better each and every week. That's the approach we've been taking and that's the approach we'll take this week."



Why not? UConn is 9-2 and technically leads the Big East entering the final game of its regular season with a 5-1 conference record -- WVU is 9-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big East. The Huskies were picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll.



"Certainly UConn's success this year has surprised a lot of people, but I'm not totally surprised by it," WVU Coach Rich Rodriguez said. "Last year they were decimated by injuries. They had to play young quarterbacks and it was a year when all the bad luck seemed to come on them. Bad luck isn't going to follow you every year. Eventually you get a little bit of good luck, not that what they've done has just been luck. They had so many bad things happen to them last year and they had a lot better potential than what it showed in the records."




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CINCINNATI BEAT UConn on Nov. 10 and lost to WVU Saturday and the combination allowed the Mountaineers to have inside tracks at the Big East title, the BCS bowl and, perhaps, a spot in the BCS title game.



Bearcats Coach Brian Kelly offered his insight on the WVU-UConn game on Monday's Big East coaches' teleconference.



"I think first and foremost that UConn is probably a lot like we were in that no one expected us to be up there," Kelly said. "They don't play tight. They play free. Now all the focus and attention is on the No. 3 BCS-rated team in the country and everyone expects (WVU) to win. It puts Connecticut in a position where they can go in there free and easy and not play tight. I think that will help them."




The Huskies are not free from pressure, though, and Edsall admitted as much when he said this was the biggest game in his program's history.


"It's the first time we've competed for something like this," he said. "We've only been in the league for three years and here we have a chance to compete for the championship in the last game of the year. It is a big game, but all the ones before them were big games. If we didn't play well in those, we wouldn't be in position for this now."




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ESPN THE MAGAZINE has nominated WVU freshman running back Noel Devine for the cover of the "Next" edition, in which the publication promotes the next big thing in sports.



Devine is competing with New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain, Portland Trail Blazers point guard Brandon Roy, track star Tyson Gay and San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis.



The vote is open online and the edition comes out Dec. 5.



"I heard about that, too," said Rodriguez when asked about how Devine has handled all his success this year. "The way we approach things every day in practice and workouts and all that, it has a tendency to keep guys grounded. They have to earn things not just every week, but every day here. With the system we have in place, no one gets any special treatment."



Devine had two carries for 23 yards against Cincinnati and returned four kickoffs for 86 yards. He's run 42 times for 390 yards and three touchdowns this season.



"He came here with a humble attitude from the start," Rodriguez said. "I'm not worried about him at all. He understands what the program is about and he understands he has to earn everything. I'm glad he gets the attention, but it won't change his approach or who he is."




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WVU'S DEC. 1 game against Pitt will begin at either 7:45 or 8 p.m. and be televised by ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. A final decision will be made sometime after Saturday's game. The men's basketball game against Winthrop the same day will be played at 1 p.m. inside the Coliseum. ... WVU kicker Pat McAfee was named the Big East Special Team's Player of the Week. It's the second time he's been picked this season. Quarterback Patrick White has been named offensive player of the week three times and safety Eric Wicks and defensive end Johnny Dingle have each been named defensive player of the week once.